Hi All,
I've had a keen interest in the Italian Wars for quite a few years, but have always been a little intimidated by the seemingly impenetrable history along with the bewildering assortment of uniforms, armour and heraldry. Nonetheless, a couple of years ago I found my courage and took my first tentative steps in building an Italian Wars collection. So with this in mind, I thought I'd use this post as both a journal of my stop-and-start efforts and hopefully give some encouragement to others who may be thinking of getting into this wonderful period, but have been hesitant to do so.
First off, I'll quickly state that I'm definitely
not an expert in this period. Nonetheless, I love to do research, and both the library (support your local library!) and the internet are terrific resources for information on the Italian Wars. So for a beginner wanting to get a handle on the history and colour of the period, I'd highly recommend the following sources:
- Thomas F. Arnold, 'The Renaissance at War'
- Michael E. Mallett, 'The Italian Wars 1495-1559: War, State and Society in Early Modern Europe'
- Michael E. Mallett, 'Mercenaries and their Masters: Warfare in Renaissance Italy'
- F.L. Taylor, 'The Art of War in Italy, 1494-1529'
- Blog: 'Camisado'
http://camisado1500s.blogspot.ca/- Blog: 'Je Lay Emprins'
http://je-lay-emprins.blogspot.ca/- Blog: 'Painting Landsknechts'
http://paintinglandsknechts.blogspot.co.uk/?m=1- Blog: the virtually unpronounceable 'Olicanalad's Games'
http://olicanalad.blogspot.ca/Okay, for my first post I have a unit of Landsknecht pikemen.
This unit is composed of around 50 figures mounted on six bases. The figures are an assortment of Wargames Foundry, Artizan, Perry Miniatures and Pro Gloria (now Warlord). The flags are from Pete's Flags and Flags of War.
The irregular shaped bases are of my own design and sourced by the good folks at Warbases. They were inspired by those from BigRedBat of 'To The Strongest' fame.
I came up with the clear acrylic platters as a way to allow players to more easily move units around the tabletop while saving both fingers (from pikemen) and pikemen (from fingers).
Well, that's my 'first volley' - I'll try to get some more units posted in the future. Thanks for visiting and I hope a few of you found some of the information helpful.
Cheers!